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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pound — a weight
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. last — finally
  6. cap — a hat
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ground — a position
  10. field — farmland
  11. last — final
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cap — a lid
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cap — of ice
  20. kid — child
  21. ground — crushed
  22. last — to go on
  23. field — a subject
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com